Modular software system for guided radiation therapy

Abstract

A facility for performing patient localization for radiation therapy is described. The facility activates two or more discrete software modules, and performs interactions between the activated software modules. Based upon the performed interactions, the facility performs patient localization for a radiation therapy session.

1 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A method for installing first and second application software packages, the first and second application software packages being designed to perform localization of a marker in or on a human body, the first application software package constituted of a first set of components, the second application software package constituted of a second set of components, the second set of components including at least one component included in the first set of components and at least one component not included in the first set of components, comprising:
 installing the first application software package by installing each of the first set of components; and   at a time after the first application software package is installed, installing the second application software package by installing components (1) including components of the second set of components not included in the first set of components and (2) excluding at least one component of the first set.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein installing the first application software package includes storing in a component directory an association between the first application software package and the first set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the first set of components for activation to invoke the first application software package,
 and wherein installing the second application software package includes storing in the component directory an association between the second application software package and the second set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the second set of components for activation to invoke the second application software package. 
 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30  wherein installing the first application software package includes storing an association between the first application software package and the first set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the first set of components for activation to invoke the first application software package, and wherein installing the second application software package includes storing an association between the second application software package and the second set of components, such that the stored association can be used to select the second set of components for activation to invoke the second application software package. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the first application software package is a distinguished version of a distinguished software product, and wherein the second application software package is a version of the distinguished software product subsequent to the distinguished version. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising executing the second application software package. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising executing the first application software package. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the first application software package is a first software product, and wherein the second application software package is a second software product distinct from the first software product. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the same organ. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the first and second application software package both perform patient localization for radiation therapy directed to the same medical disorder. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the first application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to a first organ, and wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to a second organ distinct from the first organ. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the prostate. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40  wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the breast. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 40  wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the head. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 40  wherein either the first application software package or the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the neck. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy relating to the lung. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the second application software package includes a supplemental software module for performing respiration gating of the radiation therapy. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the first application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a first medical disorder, and wherein the second application software package performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a second medical disorder distinct from the first medical disorder. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising, contemporaneously with the installation of the second application software package, installing a hardware device used in conjunction with the second application software package. 
     
     
         49 . A system for installing first and second application software packages, the first and second application software packages being designed to perform localization of a marker in or on a human body, the first application software package constituted of a first set of components, the second application software package constituted of a second set of components, the second set of components including at least one component included in the first set of components and at least one component not included in the first set of components, comprising:
 an application software package receiver for receiving information representing the first application software package and information representing the second application software package; and   an installation manager that:
 in response to receipt by the application software package receiver of information representing the first application software package, installs the first application software package by installing each of the first set of components, and 
 in response to receipt by the application software package receiver of information representing the first application software package at a time after the first application software package is installed, installs the second application software package by installing only those components of the second set of components not included in the first set of components. 
   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the first and second application software packages both perform patient localization for radiation therapy. 
     
     
         51 . A method in a computing system for launching a software product selected from a plurality of software products relating to radiation therapy tasks installed on the computing system, comprising:
 receiving input identifying the selected software product;   accessing a module directory that identifies, for each software product of the plurality, at least one of a set of module versions included in the software product; and   using the identification of at least one of the set of module versions included in the software product, activating the module versions in order to locate one or more markers in or on a human body.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy with respect to a first organ, and wherein a software product of the plurality other than the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy with respect to a second organ that is distinct from the first organ. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a first medical disorder, and wherein a software product of the plurality other than the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy directed to a second medical disorder that is distinct from the first medical disorder. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a first software product a distinguished version of a distinguished module, and wherein the accessed module directory does not identify for a second software product any version of the distinguished module. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a first software product a first version of a distinguished module, and wherein the accessed module directory identifies for a second software product a second version of the distinguished module that is distinct from the first version of the distinguished module. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the accessed module directory identifies for both a first software product and a second software product a distinguished version of a distinguished module. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product includes versions of the following modules:
 a transponder interrogation module that drives a sensor array to interrogate a set of one or more transponders; 
 a controller module that controls the transponder interrogation module and determines the location of each transponder of the set; and 
 a patient tracking module that determines the location of a patient treatment site relative to a treatment delivery isocenter. 
 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 58  wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product further includes versions of the following modules:
 a tracking station user interface for displaying patient localization information; 
 a database module for storing patient localization information; and 
 an array tracking module for tracking the location of the sensor array relative to the location the treatment delivery isocenter. 
 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the module versions identified by module directory for the selected software product further includes versions of the following modules:
 a central module representing all of the installed software modules; and 
 a console user interface for displaying patient localization information to an occupant of a treatment chamber in which radiation therapy is delivered. 
 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising determining whether the computer system possesses a license key for the selected software product, and wherein activating identified module versions is performed only if it is
 determined that the computing system possesses a license key for the selected software product.   
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 51  wherein each module version of the set of module versions included in the software product is identified by the accessed module directory. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 51  wherein a proper subset of the set of module versions included in the software product is identified in the directory, and wherein explicit dependencies on the software modules identified by the directory on additional software modules of the set are used to identify the additional modules for activation. 
     
     
         64 . A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method for launching a software product selected from a plurality of software products installed on the computing system, comprising:
 receiving input identifying the selected software product;   accessing a module directory that identifies, for each software product of the plurality, a set of module versions included in the software product; and   activating the module versions identified by the module directory for the selected software product in order to locate one or more markers in or on a human body.   
     
     
         65 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 64  wherein the selected software product performs patient localization for radiation therapy. 
     
     
         66 . One or more computer memories collectively containing a module directory data structure, comprising data that identifies, for each a plurality of application software products for locating one or more markers in or on a human body, a set of module versions included in the application software product,
 such that a selected one of the plurality of application software products can be launched by activating each module version of the set of module versions identified for the selected application software product by the data contained by the a module directory data structure.   
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the each of the plurality of software products performs patient localization for radiation therapy. 
     
     
         68 . A method in a computing system for performing patient localization for radiation therapy, comprising:
 during a first period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least a first software module and a second software module;   during the first period of time, when a distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed only by the second software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event only to the second software module;   during a second period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least the first software module, the second software module, and a third software module;   during the second period of time, when the distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed by both the second software module and the third software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event to both the second software module and the third software module,   wherein the logic of the first software module is unaltered between the first period of time and the second period of time.   
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the first software module is a Guidance System Controller module, and wherein the second software module is a Tracking Station UI software module, and wherein the third software module is a Console UI software module. 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the first software module is a Guidance System Controller Module, and wherein the second software module is a Tracking Station UI software module, and wherein the third software module is a Accessory Device Interface module. 
     
     
         71 . A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to a method for performing patient localization, the method comprising:
 during a first period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least a first software module and a second software module;   during the first period of time, when a distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed only by the second software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event only to the second software module;   during a second period of time, operating a localization software system comprising at least the first software module, the second software module, and a third software module;   during the second period of time, when the distinguished data element published by the first software module is subscribed by both the second software module and the third software module, when the first software module generates a publication event for the distinguished data element, delivering the generated publication event to both the second software module and the third software module,   wherein the logic of the first software module is unaltered between the first period of time and the second period of time.   
     
     
         72 . A computing system for performing patient localization, comprising:
 a publish and subscribe mechanism with which software modules may register with to (a) publish events of a particular type relating to patient localization for radiation therapy, and/or (b) subscribe to published events of a particular type relating to patient localization for radiation therapy;   one or more memories collectively containing a set of one or more executable software modules; and   one or more processors for executing software modules contained by the memories,   such that an executable software module among the set may, after registering to publish events of a distinguished type, publish events of the distinguished type without regard for the number or identity of software modules registered to subscribe to events of the distinguished type.